YA novel coming in 2014

Publisher's Weekly announced my latest YA news last week, so thought I'd share with my blog readers.

To see the official announcement, go HERE and scroll down a bit.

I call it my small town, big sky, driving aimlessly, football is king novel. Yes, football is a part of it, but it's not really a football book. As I told someone on twitter, I had to do something with all that Friday Night Lights love in my heart. The official short summary says, "It is told alternately by a 17-year-old girl who is new to a small town with a family secret, and the star football player she meets who is having a tough year and has big dreams beyond the field."

So for all the fans of Chasing Brooklyn who liked how the story alternated between Brooklyn and Nico, this one alternates between Lauren and Colby (Lauren's part is told in verse, Colby's part is told in regular prose).

There's actually a lot of my own high school experiences in this book, and I'm sure I'll talk more about that as it gets closer to publication. In the meantime, I went looking for some images that convey a little bit of the feel of this book, and here's what I found (all images courtesy of morguefile.com)

You can add the book on goodreads if you're into that kind of thing: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18520398-the-bridge-from-me-to-you

I'm really excited about this one and hope you are too!!

Good news, GOOD NEWS!!!

I've had some good news lately, on various things, so I'll combine it all into one happy, slightly sickening post and then be done with it, how's that? That's a picture of me, being happy a few weeks ago, at the beach - happiness feels wonderful, doesn't it? That was even before all the good news hit, so wow, imagine how happy I look now - ha! I still look bundled up and slightly cold, however, thanks to the winter-like weather we've been experiencing here lately.

Anyway...

First item of good news - CHASING BROOKLYN is going to be published in Korea! Hooray!! It's my first foreign rights deal for that book, so I'm very excited.

Second item of good news - FAR FROM YOU is a 2011 Beehive Book Award Nominee (in the poetry category!) in the great state of Utah. You can read the entire list of nominees HERE.

And the last bit of good news involves this picture, which I also took at the beach a few weeks ago.


Who are Cole and Amber, you ask? They are the characters in my latest verse novel that I just sold to Simon Pulse this week, tentatively titled THE DAY BEFORE, described in Publisher's Marketplace like this:

The Day Before, about 16-year old Amber, who goes to the beach alone to spend one perfect day before her world is turned upside down, and meets and feels a strong connection to a boy, Cole, who she slowly discovers is looking for his own escape, but for a very different reason.

Yes, it is 100% contemporary and I'm SOOO excited about it. I'll be working with Annette at Simon Pulse, and I can't wait to dig into revisions with her notes and make it sparkle and shine. I'll share more about how I came to write the book and the inspiration behind it another time.

I really need to do some helpful posts soon, as my blog has been lacking in that area lately. I think it's because I did a bunch of guest blog posts recently, and so there goes all my good material! My own readers then get the leftovers. Sorry, dear readers!! I'll bake up something delicious just for you soon, I promise! And I should probably do a post linking to those helpful posts as well. I'll put that on my to-do list for next week, before I leave for the great state of Texas!

I'm wishing everyone a little (or a lot) of good news this week!

Good News Friday

I wish I was talented in the graphics department, because I'd love to have a fun graphic with a cupcake on it or something. But alas, that is one of many areas where I don't have the talent I wish I did.

So, we'll use this one for today. I know, I know, it's meant for a different kind of good news, but that's okay.



Yes, I want to start a Good News Club. And ANYONE can join. Did you get good news this week? Or are you happy with how things are going, and would like to share? It doesn't have to be BIG good news. It can be the fact that you accomplished what you wanted to this week. Maybe you got a request for a manuscript. Maybe you had a helpful critique. Whatever it is, share with us, please!!!

I love hearing good news. It makes me happy. It fills me with hope. So, come one, come all and share the good news - ha!! And have a cupcake - you deserve one!!



I will start. My agent wrote this to me about the YA novel I just completed - "I LOVE this book." So now, we wait, hoping for more good news.

Happy Friday everyone!